Aussie academic released from Myanmar prison after 650 days
After spending 650 days in a Myanmar prison, Australian academic Sean Turnell will be returning to his family in Australia.
The country’s military-controlled government announced that Turnell would be released and deported, along with a Japanese filmmaker, ex-British diplomat, and an American, on Thursday as part of a wider prisoner amnesty to mark National Victory Day.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong shared the news on social media on Friday morning, writing that she had spoken to Turnell, who had confirmed he was now free and going home.
“Wonderful news - Professor Sean Turnell is free and on his way home to his family. I’ve just had the chance to speak with him,” she wrote, shared alongside a photo of Turnell.
“I thank everyone who worked tirelessly for his release, including @DFAT staff like our Head of Mission in Myanmar, Angela Corcoran, pictured here.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had spoken to Turnell on the phone after he landed in Bangkok on his way home.
“People have been wonderful,” Turnell told him.
Albanese described him as a “remarkable man”, sharing how Turnell would be given his food in buckets in prison, except when he received care packages from Australia in tote bags bearing the Australian crest.
"He would eat it and he would put the tote bags at where the bars were on the cell in which he was being detained so that both he could see and the guards who were detaining him could see the Australian crest, so that he could keep that optimism," Albanese said.
"And the Australian crest, of course, with the kangaroo and emu that don't go backwards.
"They don't go backwards. It was very important for him."
The PM said Turnell was “clearly counting” down the 650 days until his release and that he was in “remarkably good spirits” despite losing a lot of weight.
"He was in really, really good spirits," Albanese said.
"He was making jokes. He is from my electorate and apologised for not voting at the election. I assured him he wouldn't be fined and that it was understandable."
Turnell was among 5774 prisoners released from Myanmar, as reported by state-run MRTV.
The imprisonment of foreign nationals, which the rights monitoring organisation Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said totalled 16,232 people, had become a source of friction for Myanmar’s leaders and home governments since the democratically elected government was ousted in February last year.
According to AAP, 13,015 of those arrested were still in detention as of Wednesday, while at least 2465 people have been killed by security forces.
Tim O’Conner of Amnesty International welcomed the release of Turnell, saying that he and many others should never have been arrested or imprisoned.
"Amnesty continues to call for the release of all those arbitrarily detained for peacefully exercising their human rights," he said.
"Thousands of people jailed since the coup in Myanmar have done nothing wrong."
Turnell, an associate professor in economics at Sydney’s Macquarie University, was serving as an advisor to Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s former leader, when he was arrested at a hotel just days before the military takeover.
In September last year, Turnell was sentenced to three years prison for violating Myanmar’s official secrets law and immigration law.
"He's a remarkable man. And he was there doing his job as an economic policy adviser," Albanese said.
"He was doing his job, nothing more, nothing less. And he's very good at his job.
"And he is a proud Australian. And today, I think we should all be proud of him."
Image: Instagram